Westfarms GM Looks Back On 40 Years At Mall

Westfarms GM Kevin Keenan never expected to be working at the mall 40 years ago

FARMINGTON — Westfarms mall General Manager Kevin Keenan said he took a job as a mall cleaner in September 1974 to earn enough gas money to get him back to his home in Tucson, Ariz.

Forty years later, he still doesn't have it. At least that's what he likes to tell people.

Celebrating Westfarms' 40th anniversary this fall, Keenan said he never expected to stay at the mall when he first started at age 23.

After traveling around the country in the summer of 1974, Keenan stopped in Connecticut to visit his parents. He said his father coerced him into applying for a job at the new mall to earn some money for a few months.

When the mall opened in October 1974, only 15 stores were open to the public, he said. Today, malls typically open with 120 shops or more. Westfarms currently has 160 stores and restaurants, Keenan said.

Many people are focused on shopping for the holidays this time of year. Remember what the malls used to look like? Click through the gallery for a reminder.

"It was 1974 and a big super-regional shopping center was as much a novelty as it was a shopping destination," Keenan said. "Everyone was curious to see the new mall in town. It's not like there were a lot of comparable shopping centers anywhere in the area."

The mall was initially closed on Sundays — the effect of the state's archaic blue laws. Shoppers were allowed to smoke in the building, and ashtrays were located at every common area.

But the biggest difference at the mall now is the technology, Security Director Paul Listro said. The security office used to write everything by hand, said Listro, who started at the mallas a sanitation engineer in 1978.

The mall's evolution over the decades can mainly be attributed to the department stores it's brought in. In 1974, the mall opened with just three department stores: JCPenny, G. Fox & Co and Sage Allen & Co., Keenan said.

In the 1980s, Lord and Taylor settled in, which prompted other retailers to seek a spot in the mall. But it wasn't until the addition of Nordstrom in the mid-1990s that the mall began to attract "luxury" brands, Keenan said.

With Nordstrom came stores such as Tiffany's and Louis Vuitton, and that evolution continues today, he said.

"The biggest challenges are always trying to stay ahead of the curve and trying to make sure you stay current and relevant to consumers in the market," Keenan said.

For Keenan and other workers from the mall's early days, the mall has provided more than a longstanding career.

Both Listro and Keenan met their wives while working in the mall. Listro compared working at Westfarms to being in a small city — one where he met his best friends and family.

"We all have the same values and same principles," he said. "We are all best friends; we goof off. If I get in my car in the morning, I wouldn't know where else to go."

Facilities Director Joe Leiberis, who was hired as a part-time cleaner at Westfarms in 1977, said life working at the mall is never boring.

In 1985, the shopping center closed for Hurricane Gloria, but Leiberis said he and Keenan stayed behind to watch the building during one of the strongest storms on record.

"We went to south end of the lot and hit golf balls into the lot," Leiberis recalled, laughing. "I don't think I've ever hit a ball that far."

After 40 years in the business, Keenan said one of the reasons he's stayed is because the mall is constantly changing and evolving. And every so often, Keenan said he, Listro, Leiberis and others reminisce about the mall's early days — when they were barely making more than $2 an hour.

"Most of staff weren't even born, let alone be old enough to be working, back in '74," he said. "I'm the old guy around here."